


Morning Routine

by natashasbanner



Series: 30 Days of Bruce/Natasha Fluff [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 15:12:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12890592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashasbanner/pseuds/natashasbanner
Summary: Adjusting to domestic life isn't always easy, but Natasha thinks about the morning routine they've settled into and thinks everything will work itself out.





	Morning Routine

Living away from the Avengers base was different to say the least. For the first time since Natasha could remember she had more than the standard issue quarters to call her own. The three bedroom ranch sat on a large plot of land at the end of a private drive. The thick trees surrounding the house gave it the illusion of privacy, even when the town’s small center wasn’t far. 

Almost a month after moving in, the house remained mostly bare. Between the two of them they’d only had enough personal belongings to fill the master bedroom and one of the smaller bedrooms they turned into an office. When you were used to living on the run, you tended not to accumulate too much that couldn’t be easily left behind. 

It was an adjustment for the both of them, but they were getting there. Bruce had taken a position at the university twenty minutes away and Natasha was settling into her hands off role with the newest team of Avengers as a consultant. 

Some days the quiet was enough to drive Natasha up the wall. With SHIELD and the tower and the Avengers base, there was always something going on, a flurry of activity and she couldn’t walk ten feet without running into someone else. 

Domesticated life was never something Natasha thought was on the table for her and she knew Bruce had given up on the idea. They were working on it together, slowly but surely. 

There was one aspect of domestic life that they settled into pretty quickly was their morning routine. Their first morning together in the house had unintentionally set the tone for every morning after. Natasha thought she would hate the predictable routine, falling into a set pattern was dangerous in her line of work. But she found the quiet routine helped to ground her, no matter what they had planned for the day she could count on their time together in the morning. 

* * *

Bruce’s alarm went off first, unless Natasha had to make the drive to the Avengers facility. It was rare that Bruce rose with the first shrill tones of his alarm, but even the tiniest noise could rouse Natasha.

Sat up and reached over Bruce to silence the alarm. He’d been up late the night before preparing his lectures for the coming semester. She’d let him get some sleep. 

Natasha laid and watched him slip for a couple minutes, mapping the smoothed lines of his face and his relaxed muscles. Bruce held so much tension in his body when he was awake, not as much as he had when they first met, but still enough for her to take notice. 

She rolled away from his warmth and headed for the bathroom, but she only got a few steps before she heard him groan loudly and roll over. 

“Come back to bed.” His voice was quiet and rough from sleep. He reached his hand out for her. 

They did this every morning and Natasha couldn’t help but smile. 

“Join me in the shower,” she countered. Normally she’d crawl back in bed with him for a few more minutes until his back up alarm went off, but she had a Skype meeting with Sam first thing 

Bruce sighed and shifted again and Natasha was sure he’d fallen back asleep. Natasha shrugged and kept on toward the bathroom. Bruce wasn’t a morning person, the need to be up and out no longer present which Natasha found endlessly amusing. He’d drag himself out of bed and in the meantime Natasha would get ready for the day. 

He was still in bed when Natasha finished in the bathroom, so she dressed quietly and headed for the kitchen. The smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted down the hallway and Natasha smiled at the full pot of coffee waiting for her on the counter. 

She poured herself a mug and stirred in a little sugar, leaning against the counter to enjoy the hot brew before she had to get going for the day. After half a cup she turned around to grab the kettle from the stove. She filled it with water and as she turned on the stove top she heard Bruce moving around down the hall. 

By the time the kettle started whistling, Bruce came shuffling into the kitchen rubbing his eyes and looking characteristically rumpled still in his pajamas. 

“‘Morning,” he grumbled, moving past Natasha to prepare his tea. 

“How late did you stay up last night?” she asked, she’d gone to bed early and hadn’t heard him come to bed. 

Bruce took a long drink from his mug before squinting over at her. 

“Until three am, I think.” He said, grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter. He sat down at the kitchen table with a long sigh. 

“Can’t stay up all night like you used to, huh Doc?” she asked, smirking over the rim of her mug. 

Bruce glared at her and took a bite out of his apple. 

Natasha went to the fridge and grabbed yogurt before joining Bruce at the table. They ate in silence for a few minutes until Bruce rose from the table for more tea. 

“What’s your day looking like?” he asked when he returned to the table. 

Natasha shrugged. “I’ve got a meeting with Sam this morning and some paperwork. You?” 

“Working from home today.” 

Natasha perked up at that. He’d been at the university every day for the last two weeks overseeing his grad students, leaving Natasha home alone until well into the evening. Somedays she didn’t mind, she had her own work to get done, but she was starting to get lonely. 

“Why did you get up so early?” she asked, leaning back in her chair. 

Bruce smiled slightly and looked down into his mug. 

“We always eat together in the morning,” he said and looked back up to meet her eyes. 

Natasha smiled, her insides warming. She reached across the table to run her thumb along his knuckles. Their mornings meant something to him too and she felt relieved. 

She glanced at the clock on the wall behind Bruce’s head, she only had a few minutes until Sam’s call. 

“About that time?” Bruce asked, turning his hand over to take hers in his. 

“Off to the office,” she said and smirked. She squeezed his hand before standing from her chair to throw away her yogurt container. 

She passed the table on her way into the living and Bruce caught her lightly by the wrist. 

He smiled up at her, tugging her down until they were practically nose to nose. 

“Have a good day at work,” he said, smiling even wider. It was usually her line followed by a kiss before he left for the garage. 

Natasha leaned in to quickly peck his lips. He let go of her wrist as she straightened up and she could feel his eyes following her as she left the room.

A happy sigh escaped her lips as she sank into the desk chair and woke up her laptop. Some days she wondered if domestic life was just too much for her or that she wasn’t cut out for it. And then there were days like this when she wanted nothing more than to spend all day in bed with Bruce or cuddle on the couch watching movies or reading. 

It was all new and they were learning as they went, but at the moment it was good. 

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find me on Tumblr @natashasbanner


End file.
